News

”What has become clear during the pandemic is that nothing beats face to face gatherings. Having had the pleasure of chairing the LNG Bunkering North American Summit in Jacksonville last month, it was quite special to be treading the boards again and seeing both members and the industry thriving. North American projects are numerous and it was great to see the small-scale operation in full swing in Jax and already with plans for expansion.

The SGMF Secretariat is working in a hybrid version with a combination of office and remote working and with staff now in London, Perth, and Vlissingen, it’s working rather well.

It’s great that we have completed several publications this year and most recently our flagship publication ‘LNG as a marine fuel: Safety and Operational Guidelines – Bunkering’ which has undergone an extensive revision and update. The SGMF Board met in November with what we hope is the last virtual board, with a resumption of round table meetings to carry on where they left off in Qatar in March 2022. We would like to thank Board Directors Chad Verret and Mark Hodgson for their outstanding contributions to the committee, who will be standing down as of the end of 2021. In their place, we welcome Mireille Franco, Bjorn van de Weerdhof and John Hatley to join our Chairman Samir Bailouni as Vice Chairs on the Executive Board Committee for 2022.

Whilst SGMF has a comprehensive portfolio of best practice for LNG as a marine fuel, we have been busy compiling material for both hydrogen and ammonia. As we all know, LNG shapes up very well for emissions reduction, and the Life Cycle Analysis [LCA] forms the very basis from which as an organisation refer.Moving forward in 2022, we will be undertaking further primary research with Sphera to clearly place the other gases on the emissions spectrum. We hope to understand the benefits and tackle the obstacles as these gases become more available.

SGMF now has three thriving committees for Technical, Environmental, and most recently the establishment of an APAC Committee. The committees are stepping up to the challenges of further improving existing operations and best practice, whilst clearing the pathway to horizon fuels that are perhaps approaching more quickly, in particular hydrogen and ammonia.

We are fully engaged at the IMO with both the MSC and MEPC. With the MEPC under greater pressure for emissions reduction, it is important we continue to present solidly founded facts and proposals.

This is one of the most exciting, challenging, and revolutionary times for shipping. An organisation like SGMF can only help steer the safe and sustainable path with contributions from its membership, so I thank you for that.

Please be encouraged to step up and join the work groups in the Society in 2022 but in the meantime, may I wish everyone a safe and peaceful holiday season. ” – Mark Bell, General Manager

Mark Bell (SGMF) and John Hatley (Wartsila) at the JAX LNG (Pivotal LNG) small-scale LNG facility located along the St. John’s River in Jacksonville.

We’re excited to share with you our end of the year Newsletter which is available online, click here to read it. This edition also includes:

IMO & ESSF Update
Gas Fest Virtual Workshops – Round IV
Committees Updates
Checking in on our WiGS
What’s happening in our Work Groups
BASiL gets a video
Updated publication just arrived
Membership Update – 6 new members!
Upcoming Events

Happy reading!

SGMF Secretariat